John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raised this question because of something the Chairman said at the September meeting. He asked about the other arms of the State with an oversight function and whether they performed properly outside of the internal oversight in the institute. Mr. Boland said that certain things were in train but things have changed and are changing dramatically since 2010. At the meeting of last September, the blame focused on one individual. Sometimes people need someone to blame. It is clear that the oversight structures may not have been there as far as looking at the propriety of the decisions and the expense concerned. Everyone needs to fess up to that. It has changed since then and it must be acknowledged that there was a deficit when it comes to the arms of the State and their oversight functions. I am glad to hear that people recognised that and are changing accordingly.

I want to ask the Department and the HEA about the findings of the Quigley report. Specifically, when talking about structures within WIT, the report says that the Department was aware of the structures but did not pursue the issues raised regarding the structures adequately and that the HEA should have taken more urgent and decisive action. Can the witnesses deal with that in respect of the Quigley report?